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FRIDAYNOVEMBER29
CITY: CUPE upset with increase to city manager’s budget
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City survey under fire Taxpayers polled about employee wages amidst contract talks Ashley MacDonald-Venis Special to the Free Press City council held its first 2014 budget meeting last night without hitting any road bumps along the way. The first order of business was the results of a recent city-wide survey. Due to the city’s current negotiations with CUPE, the survey included questions designed to gauge the public’s opinion of the current wages of unionized staff. “Forty-five per cent of the respondents agreed with the city’s proposal, 29 per cent indicated support for the union’s proposal … Fifteen per cent indicated support for neither the city or the union’s proposal,” said Kathleen Soltis, director of corporate services. Coun. Brian Skakun questioned the reasoning behind the inclusion of the wage question and suggested it was intended for public relations. “[One] of the questions [was] ‘Do you think CUPE members are paid too much?’ and I think it has really inflamed things,” said Skakun. “I get updates that tell me that CUPE members are the highest paid in the province. I get phone calls from people that were contacted for the survey with a lot of concerns that these questions were going out, especially during difficult negotiations. I can appreciate that we want to know what people think of our city workers, but I think the timing is bad.” Three-hundred-one people were polled in Prince George by the city. They were asked a variety of questions from the most important issues in the budget to their short-term expectations for the economy. “Wages are 40 per cent of our budget, so it’s an opportunity to find out a few things about [current wages of CUPE staff ],” said Soltis. “Should we use the survey again, we would intend to use core questions related to budget and use the opportunity to ask questions that were pertinent at the time.” Eighteen per cent of people agreed that road maintenance with the most important budget issue for them, followed by taxes and utility fees at 10 per cent. The majority of people surveyed (26 per cent) voted to have a two to three per cent increase in taxes with no cuts to services. In terms of increases, the city manager’s office budget will grow to $1.8 million from $1.2 million in 2013. Among the reasons for the funding changes cited by the city manager Beth James were: transfer of the communications division from corporate services to city manager (three full time employees) plus the operating dollars for that department; the addition of a corporate officer position; elimination of a vacant administration position; transfer of the off-leash dog budget to community services; the addition of the 2014 election budget; transfer of the executive coordinator position; and the conclusion of “Communities That Care” funding. The second half of the meeting was dedicated to listening to presentations from Initiatives Prince George, the Prince George Public Library and Tourism Prince George, all of which had their budgets approved with no increases for 2014.
Professional Theatre
at the Parkhill Centre
Tickets available at Books & Company 250.614.0039
LIGHT UP LOVELY Christmas season is underway
Woman killed in house fire The BC Coroners Service has confirmed the identity of a woman who died following a house fire in Prince George on Saturday. Dead is Janice Cole, aged 73, from Prince George. Cole lived alone in a house on Leland Road about 10 kilometres west of Prince George’s downtown core. In the early evening hours of Nov. 23, neighbours noticed that the house was on fire and called 911. After the Prince George Fire and Rescue Service extinguished the blaze, Cole was found deceased at the scene. The BC Coroners Service, fire officials and RCMP are continuing to investigate this death. No evidence of foul play has been found.
INSIDE TODAY: Voices........................................P14 Community..............................P20 Datebook.................................P26 Boomers and Beyond..........P29 Hart News................................P30 Teresa MALLAM/Free Press Hannah Nishnick hands out cups of hot chocolate Wednesday night at the annual Light Up Ceremony at the Prince George Civic Centre.
Driveway...................................P35 Classifieds................................P39 Sports.......................................P48
Written by Alan Janes NOVEMBER 21 DECEMBER 11 Buddy Holly’s hit songs come alive in the world’s most successful rock ‘n’ roll musical. By arrangement with Alan Janes